Gift of a New Beginning
by Danni1989
Summary: After some legal troubles, Damon Salvatore moves home to Mystic Falls to complete his community service requirements. At the local animal shelter he meets Elena Gilbert, a volunteer. Will she help him see the magic in his life when he can't? Rated M for language.


**This was written for the 2015 A2A DE Holiday Exchange on LiveJournal for a prompt by I'm_runwild56. I hope you enjoy this as it was a brilliant prompt and I absolutely loved writing it.**

 **The prompt:**

 **Damon has given up. Life is just not going right (up to you, however you choose to make his life be miserable). He is about to give up when he comes across a brown eyed beauty- Elena volunteering at an animal shelter. He gets to know her they have a heart to heart about life. Elena gets him to see that things could be looking up, nothing is ever as bad as it seems.**  
 **Any rating**  
 **Extra points for Fun flirty banter, an adopted animal finding its forever home, hot cocoa, sleigh rides, and a mistletoe kiss**

 **I hope you enjoy and let me know what you think.**

* * *

This is bullshit. Complete fucking bullshit. Three weeks ago everything was fine. I was dating the hottest woman I have ever laid eyes on, Katherine Pierce, top model. Everyone wanted to be with her and I was the lucky prick who got to call her his own. I had a good job as a chef, cooking for the rich and famous of New York City – a job that technically Katherine got me. I loved my job and I was damn good at it. People looked up to me and followed my every order. They respected me which is not something I ever really had before. Growing up in my family had been difficult with a capital D. My brother- the prodigal son, my dad - the asshole lawyer, and me - the fucked up lost cause. It wasn't until I ran to New York City right after graduating that I found my niche. It was right around the time I met Katherine Pierce. I met her the summer I moved to New York when I was nineteen, fast forward five years later and here I am.

"Damon, you have to promise to make this work. You could have been in jail right now but I got you a hell of a deal." My lawyer told me as we stood outside my penance. My lawyer was right, he got me a hell of a deal but that didn't mean that I was happy being back in Mystic Falls. I had enough money left over from my career to rent myself an apartment here. There was no way in hell I was moving back in with the asshole and the prodigy. That would never happen in a million years. The best thing I could imagine was if they never found out I was even here. We could live our lives in the same small town without ever actually seeing each other. My return here was court mandated, otherwise I never would have come back. It was either this or jail. Sadly this was the better option.

"I'm going to. Is it possible to get a restraining order against my dad and brother?" I asked and Alaric laughed. He actually thought I was joking.

"Just try to have fun being back. You know it's good for you to be here. Getting away from that toxic New York crowd is good for you. You need a change in scenery." He told me and I understood that. I just wished it could have been anywhere but here. There are tons of small towns in the continental US but this is the one they chose.

"But why Mystic Falls?" I asked, pleading with my eyes for him to change his mind. Katherine had always commented that my eyes were amazing. That was before I found out she was a lying bitch.

"You know Mystic Falls, the judge and I figured you would be more comfortable being somewhere comfortable and known." Alaric shrugged and I shook my head.

"Believe me, there is no comfort in this place. It's the home of the asshole and the prodigy." I reminded him and he chuckled.

"Don't you think it's time to start referring to them as anything other than "asshole" or "prodigy"?" He asked and I shook my head.

"Why would I do that when the names are fitting?" I asked and he wisely let it go. No one ever broached my troubled past with my father and brother. My mother died giving birth to my brother so since we were very young it's always been my father and brother versus me because I looked like her. I looked over my shoulder, hopefully at my beloved Camaro. In a perfect world I would be able to get inside and drive somewhere I can find a real life. A life that isn't fake bullshit.

"Shall we go inside?" Ric asked and I sighed. I had hoped standing on the sidewalk would mean that everything isn't about to change. I didn't want to go inside and start my life over. The sadistic asshole judge who ruled me to come home and start fresh instead of sending me to jail was going to somehow pay for this someday. I had a cooking degree, where was there to cook in Mystic Falls Virginia? Yes, technically I was fired from my last job for poor conduct, which would make it hard to find a job elsewhere. But what was a guy to do when he walked into his kitchen to find his girlfriend fucking his boss on his perfectly pristine counter tops. I flipped the fuck out and no one should be able to blame me. Cue to a bottle of bourbon, my bosses wrecked car and various threat accusations and here I am. I maintain the whole thing was not my fault, the asshole shouldn't have left his keys sitting on his desk in his office. They were there tempting me and I took them before grabbing a whole bottle of bourbon and leaving. I wouldn't have been a man if I hadn't stopped them and yelled at both of them. I broke up with Katherine only for her to tell me that she was only with me because I was fucking hot and good in bed. She needed someone with more substance. I got pissed, my boss fired me because I was acting unprofessional and I got into an accident. The night from hell but I guess it's good that I'm not in jail. Mystic Falls was the next worst thing – a different sort of prison.

I fished my keys out of my pocket and opened the door and we walked up the stairs together. When we got to the third floor I unlocked my door and we stepped inside. The place was small but I could live there. It was enough for me and I still had money saved up. I was able to bank all my paychecks aside from fuel and my cell phone bill. I lived with Katherine because we spent every night together anyway. I had enough money to furnish my apartment, fill the pantry and still get me through until I found a new job.

"Did you get me the job postings?" I asked Alaric. He was supposed to make my move as easy as possible. Him and the judge still worried I was fragile and didn't want to make this harder than it already was.

"Yeah, but you know you have to do your community service too. You can't just get a job and forget about it. Unless you want to keep everything on your record for the rest of your life." He told me and I sighed. I understood the terms and the deal really was incredible. If I followed their instructions perfectly this would not be on my record at all after Christmas. They told me this never would have happened at all if I wouldn't have seen what I saw and felt that I didn't deserve to be punished. They would give me every opportunity to make sure this never happened according to my record. Even the judge had declared me a level headed man who had a stroke of bad luck. It was like my entire life was one horrible stroke of bad luck.

"Don't worry about it. I will be at the animal shelter 10 am Monday morning." I told him and he smiled.

"I believe you. Don't forget to have Bridgette Morris – the director of the shelter- send in your attendance. We have to be able to see that you were there." He reminded me and I knew all these things. They told me about it in court and I wasn't likely to forget the only way to get my life back on track.

"Thanks for everything, Ric. I know I'm a pain in the ass but just know I appreciate you getting me off so easily. I've never really had anyone go to bat for me before so I appreciate it." I told him. I knew he deserved to know because it was true.

"I know that Damon. Why do you think I fought so hard against Brice's lawyers? They weren't going to get you jailed, especially since they didn't have a leg to stand on. But man to man, did you really threaten to kill them?" He asked and I shook my head.

"I never threatened to hurt them. I said a lot of things I shouldn't have in anger but I never threatened them. I never threw a bottle at them and I sure as fuck didn't pull a knife on them." I told him. Those were the things they accused me of on top of totalling his car, stealing it and drinking and driving.

"I didn't think so. But I should be getting going. I have a plane first thing in the morning. Feel free to call me if anything happens. You have my cell number." He told me and I nodded.

When he was gone I sank into my couch and lay my head against the back of it. I was finally on my own and now I had to figure out how to get going again. I had to start all over again and I wasn't sure I could do it. Last time I had Katherine, she made things easy. She introduced me to all of her friends and got me a job. This time I had to do it on my own at the same time as I did community service. The only thing I could do was keep my head down and do my business. Then when I was free to do whatever I would leave Mystic Falls behind again and find somewhere new. Somewhere there were no assholes, no prodigies and sure as fuck no cheating bitch Katherine Pierces.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~DE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~DE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My first week at the shelter went by without ceremony. Nothing special happened but nothing bad happened. I never saw the asshole or the prodigy once during my first week in town and that if of itself was a victory. The director of the shelter was nice enough but it was still far from where I wanted to be. Anywhere but Mystic Falls was where I wanted to be. There was a cute brunette too that was there almost every day. She was on a first name basis with all the staff and all the animals. It was impressive as hell. It was Christmas Eve and I was heading in for my shift. I was expected to stay there with the director until the night watch came in at 7:30. It was good I didn't have plans, not that I would have. It was Mystic Falls and besides the Christmas festival that happens every year nothing ever happens in Mystic Falls. It was the other part of the reason I got the hell out of dodge right after graduating.

"Good afternoon Damon." Bridgette greeted me when I walked in the door.

"Hi." I greeted her without much enthusiasm. I still wasn't happy to be here. I would have rather just stay home and drink a bottle of bourbon for Christmas. That was more my speed than spending the holiday with a couple people and around thirty animals. I wasn't even an animal person. The job wasn't terrible but it wasn't perfect either. I would have preferred almost anything over animal duty.

"You're almost done here. Only a couple shifts left." She told me warmly and I shrugged. It was all the same hell. I had a lease to live out, when my lease expired then I would bolt from this place once and for all.

"Just you and me tonight?" I asked her hopefully. At least if it was just me and Bridgette she would leave me alone to do my own thing. She gave me a list and left me alone, everyone else wanted to make conversation and tell me how to do my job. All except for Elena the volunteer and Bridgette.

"Elena is visiting, she's been here all day." Bridgette told me and I was confused. What would a girl like that be doing here all day on Christmas Eve?

"I understand why you're here and why I have to be here, but she doesn't get paid for it. Why the hell is she spending Christmas here?" I demanded. Was that girl so desperate to prove that she's the best at everything that she has to show off by spending her family time here? It was ridiculous that one person felt the need to one up everyone all the time. I could tell she was that kind. She's not the first one I've met. New York was filled with the self-serving type. She was gorgeous but she was the type of person I did my best to avoid.

"That's her story Damon. You'd have to ask her. Just maybe consider that she has a past before you start judging her." Bridgette told me and I shrugged it off. A girl like her doesn't know the type of pain I have known.

When I walked into the room with the dogs since the first thing on my list was to clean the kennels, Elena was there on the ground holding what appeared to be a baby shepherd. The dog was cute as hell and Elena seemed to be completely smitten with him.

"Why the hell are you here on Christmas Eve?" I asked her. It was the first time I've ever spoken directly to her. Her head snapped up and glared at me.

"That's my business. Maybe I just like animals more than people." She told me.

"Doubtful. You're the pretty preppy cheerleader type, there's no way you would hide out with animals instead of being with people." I scoffed and she glared.

"You don't know shit about me. The way I see it you have no right to judge since you're here because you got lucky after you broke the law. The deal you got was completely taking advantage of the legal system. No one else would get a DUI wiped from their record." She told me and the girl had some fire. She gave the puppy in front of her a kiss and she smiled at him. Maybe I had misjudged the situation so I sat down on the floor with her. Bridgette didn't care what I did as long as I got all my duties done before I went home. She wouldn't care if I sat down and talked to Elena for a while.

"So what's your story then?" I asked and she shook her head.

"I'm not talking about me." She said firmly, never removing her attention from the puppy in front of her.

"You think you your life sucks? Try mine out for a day." I said bitterly. She snapped her head to look at me with a fire in her eyes that I hadn't experienced ever. Something I said royally pissed her off.

"What the hell could have happened to make you like this? Whatever it was couldn't have possibly been enough to make you completely disregard your life like that. Be grateful that you're alive, there are some people that can't say that." She said. In a matter of seconds her anger had disappeared. I saw an angry fire in her eyes and it disappeared just as quick.

"Let me see, I'm unloved. My mom is dead, and my dad and brother resent me for it because I look like her. I move to New York and everything is great. I'm dating a great girl and I have a great job. Then one night I lose all of it when I find my girlfriend fucking my boss. I steal his car, drink, smash up the car, get arrested and fired in one night. Now I'm here, a place I vowed I would never return. Try that on for size and tell me if I have the right to hate my life." I told her bitterly. She paid attention and her expression never changed. I saw her surreptitiously shake her head like what I said made her sad.

"Number one, no one is ever unloved. Your dad and your brother love you, I'm sure of it. Number two, if your girlfriend cheated on you, you should have realized right then that she wasn't good enough. For her to cheat on you says more about her than it does about you. You need to take this hurt and turn it into something else. Turn it into motivation to live your life the way you were meant to." She said to me and I shook my head. There was no way she had any idea what I was going through.

"What makes you think you're qualified to give me that kind of advice?" I asked and she looked away and snuggled the puppy again. "Are you ever planning on letting that dog go?"

"I'm adopting him. Bridgette is doing the paper work right now. And I can give advice because last year I was pretty sure my life was over. But I started getting over it, it will never go away but I learned to live again." She told me and I was instantly curious.

"What happened?" I asked her and she looked at me. Her eyes were moist, almost like even thinking about it brought her to tears. Whatever it is sounds pretty bad and I felt bad for being a dick to her earlier.

"A year and about a week and a half ago my parents were going on one of my dad's trips. He was going to a medical conference in Atlanta and they wanted me and my brother to go with them. But my best friend was having a party so I opted to stay home and I'd fly out a day late. They didn't even make it to the airport in Richmond. My dad was thrown from the car and killed immediately, my mom made it to the hospital but died in surgery, my brother died in the ambulance. Now I'm alone." She told me and I felt terrible. If she could lose three people that she loved more than anyone else than I should be able to get past this.

"I'm sorry about your losses." I told her solemnly and she offered me a smile.

"I'm living through it which is what you have to do." She told me as Bridgette walked in.

"Sign on this dotted line and then Duke is all yours." She said to Elena. Elena stood up and signed her name with a flourish before putting the leash on Duke.

"It was good talking to you. Take my advice." She told me and I stood up.

"Where are you off to now, Elena?" Bridgette asked and she smiled.

"I'm taking my new baby here to the festival." She told her with a smile. The square was all done up with stands, and sleigh rides were happening through town. It was a big to-do here.

"Why don't you take Damon with you? He can make his shift up after the New Year." Bridgette said and I was down with that. I didn't know what Bridgette's game was but whatever it was I was cool with it. She shrugged and I got my jacket and followed her into the snow.

The town square was packed as we walked. She stopped at the stand outside the Mystic Grill and gave the guy there some cash for a cup of hot cocoa.

"Want one? My treat?" I asked and I shook my head. This cocoa looked far too watery for my taste. I was a chef and I had much higher standards than that. She took her cocoa and thanked the guy she called Matt. It was clear that they were friends. I was thinking I wanted to be more than her friend. She was amazing and strong. She was the type of person who would make my sentence here livable. She sipped her cocoa as we walked side by side to the town square.

"What are we doing?" I asked.

"There is always a Christmas performance and I want to see what it is." She told me. Duke the puppy was sitting by her feet. I hadn't seen him before so he must have just came in today. Elena would have seen him and fallen for him almost immediately. Even I had to admit the dog was damn cute.

"Please welcome the musical stylings of local pianist Stefan Salvatore." Mayor Lockwood announced and I froze.

"Isn't that your brother?" Elena asked and I nodded unable to speak. I hadn't wanted to see them around, ever, but it appeared I wouldn't be successful. I looked around me as Stefan took his seat at the piano, sure enough my father was standing to the left of the stage.

"My dad is here too." I told her and she grabbed my arm and squeezed it.

"Maybe you should see him. Even if you just tell him Merry Christmas and then walk away. You don't have to have him in your life." She told me. She was right, at the very least he deserved to know I was here. If he wanted to make an effort I could let him. With Elena and Duke in tow I weaved through the crowd and stopped in front of my father.

"Damon?" He asked his eyes wide.

"Hi." I greeted him unsure of how to greet him. Stefan looked over then and immediately stopped playing.

"Damon is that you?" He asked coming off the stage. I hadn't wanted to interrupt his performance.

"Yeah, how are you?" I asked unsure of how to speak to them.

"When did you get back?" My father asked, he still looked completely in shock.

"Two weeks ago give or take." I shrugged.

"Why didn't you come by? I've been trying to figure out how to reach out to you for years." He said and now it was my turn to be shocked. I didn't know what to do now. I turned to Elena but she just smiled and took Duke and walked towards a group of people by the hot cocoa stand. My father surprised me by throwing his arms around me and hugging me tight. The man had never hugged me before and I didn't know how to take it. My arms stayed stiff at my side until he released me.

"I hope you stay, son. I would like to have a chance to right all the wrongs I made." He said hopefully.

"We'll see. I'm not too sure what my plans are yet." I told them, wanting to get back to Elena. I didn't want her to think she can ditch me now that I got my family.

"I understand. But please come on by for dinner some night. Any night you want. You can even bring your lovely lady friend." My father suggested.

"I'll ask her, but I should get back to her before she decides to leave me here." I said. My father surprised me again and hugged me once more before I walked away. I was confused now but it was a good kind of confused.

I walked up to Elena and she smiled at me.

"See, it's a Christmas miracle." She teased me and I laughed.

"Elena, who is your friend?" A blonde girl asked.

"Care, this is Damon Salvatore. Damon this is Caroline Forbes." She introduced us. I shook Blondie's hand and she smirked and giggled.

"What?" Elena and I asked at the same time. Blondie had a girly giggle and it was quite annoying.

"Look up." She said pointing above our heads. We both looked up wearily and groaned when we saw the festive plant hanging above our heads. I was totally fine with kissing her, I just didn't want to be forced into it by a plant.

"You don't have to." She told me letting me off easily.

"What if I want to?" I asked just before I captured her lips with mine. We kept the kiss short and sweet, breaking it after only a few seconds.

"Wow." She said and giggled.

"I know right. Now how about we get a sleigh ride in and then I take you to my place and show you a real cup of cocoa?" I offered.

"Just cocoa?" She asked pointedly.

"Just cocoa, no one makes it like a certified chef." I affirmed.


End file.
